Japan’s Center-Right Goes Green

[kristopher]

Japan’s Center-Right Goes Green
July 19, 2016
ByAndrew DeWit

In an era of Brexit, negative interest rates, and Trump, we are getting used to the emergence and endurance of the unreal. But for something completely different, consider the strong signals of a sea change on energy policy coming from Japan’s business community. A lot of business elites have clearly thrown in the towel on nuclear and are instead openly lobbying to have Japan vault to global leadership in renewables, efficiency and smart infrastructure.

One telling piece of evidence is a June 28 report and list of policy recommendations from the influential Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives (KD)). The KD report is titled (in Japanese) “Towards the World’s Leading Zero-Emissions Society: Measures for an Increased Deployment of Renewable Energy.” The KD is not anti-nuclear per se; indeed, the report’s signatories include representatives from nuclear-owning Kansai Electric and Kyushu Electric. All the same, the KD declares that regulatory, legal and other hurdles mean nuclear power will likely not reach the 20-22 percent of electricity generation targeted by the country’s Basic Energy Plan. The KD therefore argues for an all-out effort on renewables and energy efficiency, rather than continuing to fill the gap with natural gas, coal and oil. It points to last December’s COP21 agreement on climate change, and subsequent developments, and is adamant that Japan reduce its reliance on fossil fuels as much and as soon as possible. Moreover, the KD insists on this approach for environmental reasons as well as to make Japan a leader, rather than a laggard, in the race to zero-emissions energy.

The KD is a powerful organization, one of Japan’s three top national business councils. Its roughly 1,400 members come from about 950 corporations, including Nissan, Mitsubishi, Marubeni and other household names, but they join as individuals....

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2016/07/japan-s-center-right-goes-green.html?cmpid=renewablewind07212016&eid=291112127&bid=1473107

[FBaggins]

1. As long as "green" includes nuclear power AND renewables... then yes.

Some mistakenly define "green" to the exclusion of nuclear power.

Historically, that group has included the author of this piece.

[kristopher]

2. KD is saying "screw nuclear we need to focus on renewables"*

* Paraphrased for brevity.

[FBaggins]

3. Oh sure... as long as "paraphrased" suddenly means...

... entirely made up from wishful thinking.

[kristopher]

4. "Wishful thinking" is apt description of the right wing's pursuit of nuclear power.

"All the same, the KD declares that regulatory, legal and other hurdles mean nuclear power will likely not reach the 20-22 percent of electricity generation targeted by the country’s Basic Energy Plan. The KD therefore argues for an all-out effort on renewables and energy efficiency, rather than continuing to fill the gap with natural gas, coal and oil."


Yea, I'll stand by "screw nuclear we need to focus on renewables" as a suitable paraphrase.

The country's previous government held a national referendum on what to do about energy. The consensus was to pursue a non-nuclear renewable energy path. Capitalizing on economic distress in the country, the right wing LDP under Abe took over the government in the next election and immediately proceeded to disregard the will of the public and set their own course of restarting the nation's stalled nuclear fleet. One of their deliberate ploys was to - with total disregard for the cost and consequences - ignore anything but fossil fuels and nuclear. Essentially they decided to punish the country by stepping up imports of fossil fuels and ignoring the opportunity to use the same funds to maximize the domestic economic benefits of building out a renewable replacement for both nuclear and fossil fuels.

When groups like KD start start complaining, it is over.

[bananas]

5. Nuclear power is NOT green

Some mistakenly fall for greenwashing by the nuclear industry and it's gullible cheerleaders.
Historically, that group has included trolls on message boards who delight in spreading misinformation.

https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/what-green-power

What Is Green Power?

The U.S. energy supply is composed of a wide variety of energy resources; however, not all energy resources have the same environmental benefits and costs.

Green power is a subset of renewable energy and represents those renewable energy resources and technologies that provide the highest environmental benefit. EPA defines green power as electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, eligible biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources. Customers often buy green power for its zero emissions profile and carbon footprint reduction benefits.

Renewable energy includes resources that rely on fuel sources that restore themselves over short periods of time and do not diminish. Such fuel sources include the sun, wind, moving water, organic plant and waste material (eligible biomass), and the earth's heat (geothermal). Although the impacts are small, some renewable energy technologies can have an impact on the environment. For example, large hydroelectric resources can have environmental trade-offs on such issues as fisheries and land use.

Conventional power includes the combustion of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil) and the nuclear fission of uranium. Fossil fuels have environmental costs from mining, drilling, or extraction, and emit greenhouse gases and air pollution during combustion. Although nuclear power generation emits no greenhouse gases during power generation, it does require mining, extraction, and long-term radioactive waste storage.

The following graphic depicts how EPA defines different types of energy resources based on their relative environmental benefits.